Booster throttle and control



May 28, 1929. M. H. ROBERTS BOOSTER THROTTLE AND CONTROL 4 2 9 l O 2 b eF d B. 1 1 F I VVEN TOR By W w A TTORNEY5 y 28, 1929- M. H. ROBERTS1,714,626

BOOSTER THROTTLE AND CONTROL Filed Feb. 20, 1924 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZATTORNEIIB M. H. ROBERTS BOOSTER THROTTLE AND CONTROL ivla 28, 1929.

. Filed Feb. 20, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet A TTORNEYJ' May 28,- 1929. M. H.ROBERTS 1714.626

BOOSTER THROTTLE AND'CON T ROL I Filed Feb. 20, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4WITNESSES INVENTOR Jazz/$ 4 W 54% %@;Mw

best illustrated. in Fig. 4, taken as indicated prove the control of thebooster.

Patented May 28, 1929.

I A nane Tsar tries.

MONTAGUE H. nosnnrsor Ens-Lnwoon, new nasnir, ASSIGNQR To FRANKLINRAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY, A oenronarron oF- E AWARE.

BOOSTER THROTTLE AND CONTROL.

Application filed February 20, 1924. SerialNo. 694,174.

My invention relates to the throttles and the control of locomotiveboosters. I aim to provide a simple and reliable throttle, that can beoperated by the fluid pressure usually employed in the control systemsof locomotive boosters; to prevent hammering or slamming in theoperation 01 such a throttle; and to quicken itsv action and im- Howthese and other advantages he realizes through the invention will appearfrom my. description hereinafter of selected and preferred embodiments.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a schematic lg. 3 is a plan view of thedevice shown.

in Fig. 2, with the upper wall or cover of the valve casing removec.

Fig. 4 shows ai'ragmentary axial section through the device, taken asindicated by the line 44 in Fig. 3. U y

V Fig. 5 shows a horizontal section through an accessory partor devicethat is otherwise by the line 55 in that figure,

F ig. 6 shows a longitudinal section similar to F ig.. 2 through anotherform of throttlevalve, with certain assoc ated parts in side elevation,

The general booster arrangement and eon-..

trol. illustrated in Fig. 1 are substantially as shown in U. S. PatentNo. 1,470,761 to Frank R. Peters, granted October 16th, 1923 and in U.S. Patent No. 1,470,082 to Ingersoll, granted October 9th, wellunderstood in this art. p

The booster engine or motor 1O may be applied to an. axle 11 of thelocomotive trailer truck, or toy any other suitable axle of thelocomotive, of its. tender, or oi' some other vehicle or car in thetrain. ..The booster 10 being intended to assist the locomotive instarting and at slow speeds, but not to drive the locomotive by itself,or cooperate at all 1923, and now at high.speedsreprovisions .are madefor connecting. the booster to the axle 11 and disconnecting ittherefromin correlation with the operationqf the locomotive, and

. The

for operating the booster throttle 12 inlike correlation. Forcontrolling the operation of the locomotive, there may be provided theusual reverselever=13 with its. quadrant. 14, and the usual mainthrottle valve 15 for the steam pipe. IG-(Ieading to the locomotivevalve chests and cylinders), mounted in the steam dome 17 andoperated-through the bell-crank 18 by. means of the reach rod 19.diagrammatic; illustration of, the booster 10 in. Fig. 1 shows one ofits cylinders20 and its. crank shaft 21, and also the pinions 22, 23 andidler gear.- 24 through which the ag le 11 is driven from said shaft'21. The idler pinion 24; is mounted on a rocker 25 fulcrurned at 26,:it is always .in mesh with the pinion 22, and is swung into andout. ofmesh with the pinion 23 by a movable operating cylinder 27 and anopposing'spring 28 and counterweight 29-. Fluid pressure, preferably.air, is.. supplied to the cylinder 27 throughpipes soand 31.with aninterposed valve 32,,and is conducted from thecylinder27. throughthepipe 33, as will appear hereinafter. The booster issaid to beentrainedwhen pressure in the cylinder 27 throws. the idler gear 24intofmesh with the gear 23. Disentrainment is, accomplished byexhausting the fluid pressure from theicylinder 27 whereupon spring 28and her 25. to the position shown in Fig. 1. I

The initial step toward actually bringing the booster 10 into, operationis'usually effected by throwing thev reverse lever 13 into the corner,as it is. colloquially eX- 1 pressed,-.-which means to the right in Fig.

1, so as to set the locomotive valve gear for starting the locomotiveahead. When the lever; 13 is in this position, a lat c h34 carried-byit, Qand previously turned up 180? from the position shown in F ig..1)engages and tips a rocker lever 34 and thereby holds depressed theplunger. 35 of. the reverse lever pilot valve 32, as said valve 32 istermed.

,by pass valve? 36 and opens it, thus admit ting a small amount of.steam'to. the booster LO teturn over slowly andiacilita-te proper This.shuts. ofi the eX-haustfrom the pipe31 (otherwise afforded by the valve5 counterweigl-it 29 return the rocking memmeshing of the gears mannernow well known in the art. The

movement or the cylinder 27 which accomplishes the entrainmentalsoadmits the air to the pipe 38, which leads to a normally closed valve 87termed the throttle pilot and control valve. Here the passage of the airis blocked, until (and unless) the main locomotive throttle 15 is openedto admit steam through the pipes 16 and 38 to shift the valve 37 andthus let the air into the'pipe 39 leading to the booster throttle 12.The opening of this throttle 12 admits full steam pressure to thealready entrained booster l0,'thus bringing the latter into operation toassist in driving the locomotive.

When the reverse lever 13 is moved out of the corner and the pilot valve32 thus allowed to resume its normal. posltion, the.

booster is disentrained and put out of operation by a reverse series ofoperations. Its

throttle 12 is also closed, or course, ii": the

main throttle '15 is closed,-regardless of the position of the reverselever 13.

, It will be seen, therefore, that while bringing "of the booster 10into operation is initiated by, means or the reverse lever latch 34,etc, and the admission of pressure to the pipe agencies is dependent onproper conditions foroperation'of the booster existing or being broughtabout, since such action is controlled by the booster entrainingcylinder 27 and by the main throttle pilot and control valve 37, both ofwhich'must act before the pressure is permitted to open the throttle.

As thus far described, the construction and operation of the booster 10and its control system are substantially the same as set forth in thePeters and Ingersoll patents already cited; and I'have here describedthe same merely because an understanding thereo't'is needful to a clearunderstanding of my present invention, which 1s more especiallyconcerned with the booster throttle 12and its control.

The throttlevalv'e illustrated in Figs. 25 comprises a casing or body 40with inlet and outlet 41 and 42 for fluid, and with its ends flanged forconnection in a line of piping or the like. In the upper side of thecasing 40, there aregopenings or ports 43, 44, one at either side ortransverse wall or 'septum45 cast integral with the casing, and

(except, for the ports 43, 44) completely occluding the passage throughit. Over and connecting the ports 43, 44, there is a lateral chamber 46,formed by the dished conforma 23 and 24, etc. in the 31, yetthe'ultimate action of these working in a cylinder chamber 55 atthelower side of the casing 40. The valve 50 is opened by admission orfluid under pressure (particularly, the compressed our very'commonlyused in booster control systems) beneath the piston 54, and theparts are spring returned, so that the valve will close automaticallywhen the cylinder pressure is released-, even in the absence of anysteam pressure. For this purpose, there is a helical compression spring56 interposed between the piston 54 and the casingwall at -57, which isoilset or recessed inward around the boss 52 130 accommodate the spring.The spring 56 is centered. around the boss 52 and around the shoulder ofan abutment part 58 that bears on a key 59 on the grooved lower end orthe stem 51;

A detachable cylinder cover 60 has a pressure supply duct 61 leading toa central chamber 62, and several small radial ducts 63 leadingtherefrom to the annular space surrounding an inward projecting centralboss 6401s the cover 60. The ducts 63 open into the cylinder 55 atwidely separated points so located (Fig. 3) that the cylinder can alwaysdrain through one or another of them, even if it be not perfectly level.Be-

sides supplying the chamber 62 and the ducts 63 leading to the lower endoi the cylinder 55, the duct 61 has a small hole (Fig. 4) directlyopening into the-cyls inder, so as to answer the purpose of? a thirdductf such as 6-3 in assuring tree supply and drainage for the cylinderin all positions. The ducts63 and the hole 65' are shown equallyspacedaround'the cylinder. The piston 5-4, is centrally recessed atone"side, to accommodate the cover boss 64, and at the other to accommodatethe, spring 56, etc. \Vhileit is guided by the;v cylinder walls at itsupper and lower ends, it is here shown with a shallow intermediategroove to reduce "friction. At its lower end, the piston 54 has ametallic ring packing 67, to prevent or minimize leakage. The lowerportion ofthe piston 54, that carries the packing 67, is of greaterdiameter than t rest, and the shoulder 68 that marks the change in sizeis rounded for sealing against a shoulder 69 at thejunction of thecorrespondingly different sized cylinder bores. As shown, the cylinder55 is provided'with a renewable liner 55 that affords a wearing anunloader 80 mounted at the periphery of central radially ported sleeve85' communiend of vthe cylinder.

surface for both its bores and the shoulder 68. Clearance is allowedbetween the part 58 and the piston 54 when the latter is in itslowermost position, to permit the valve 50 to seat properly even afterseveral re- V grindings.

steam, air, or waterof condensation fronr To obviate accumniulation ofany leakage into the upper end of the cylinder' 55 that mayoc'cur(either alongthe" stein 51,0r past the p'iston54), vent openings orports 71, 72 may be provided through the cylinder wall and through theupper hollow portion or ?skirt of the piston 54.

As shown, the wall has abroad, shallow in ternal groove 55 all the wayaround to afford communication between the ports 71 and 72 when thepiston 54 rises to the upper 7 Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show more clearly thanFig. 2 the preferred mode of air supply for the device illustrated in Figs. 2-5. As here shown, the supply connection includes the cylindercover 60, and communicating with the duct 61 through a constricted open-1ng 81. The unloader 80 may bebriefly de scribed as comprising a valvedisc 82 that seats on annular ridges 83 between which are.

a number of relief ports 84 opening directly to the atmosphere, andwithin which is a catingwith the pressure supply inlet 86 to V which isconnected the pipe 39. When air pressure from the pipe 30 is admitted tothe pipe 31 by the pilot valve 32, as described 'above, it passesthrough a branch of said I pipe 31 to a chamber 87 at the upper side ofthe disc 82.. A helical compressionspring 88 cooperates with thepressure so admitted to hold'the disc 82 seated against any pressurefrom the pipe 39 acting" on the small area of its lower side within theinner ridge 83.;

S11bsequently,wvhen the valve 37 admits the air to the pipe 39 and theinlet 86, thethe ports 84, thus allowing the valve 50V to close at once,independently and irrespective of the disentrainment of the boosterwhich ultimately ensues. The escape of'the air at the small opening 81is slow enough, however, to prevent slamming when the valve 50 closes.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, there is a manu ally operable stop valve 89in the casing 40 at the inlet side of the throttle valve 5O,

within the other.

for cutting off steam fromthe valve 50 when it requires repair, orforabsolutely preventing operation of the booster if out of order or thelike.

In the construction shown in Fig.- 6,-the cover 47 over the parts'43, 44is less dished than in'Fig.2,and an upstanding wall 90 around theseparts helps to form the chamber 46. Opposite the valve 50, a screw 91exten'ds'through a stufling box 92 in the cover 47; and by screwing thisscrew '91 downon the valve, the latter can be heldtight on its seat.Instead of astuffing box in the guide boss 52, there arew'ater sealgrooves 93 in. the valve stem 51 to prevent or minimize leakage of steamoutward along it. -The packing 67 for the piston 54 is of the cup typeinstead of the ring type shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the differentialcylinder and piston bore and shoulder feature is dispensed with. As ameans of preventing leakage when the valve 50 is open,- theabutmentpartv 58 has a conoidal or rounded upper surfacev 94 adaptedtOSeflfi or seal in a conical recess 95at the lower'end'of the boss 52,and a flat lower surface (around its recess for the key 59) adapted toseal with a flat surface 96 on "the piston 54. WVhen the valve 50 isopen,

the "air pressure on'the seals at 94, .95, 96 keeps them tight andeffectively prevents leakage along the stem 51,'notwithstanding aneasyffit of the latter in the part 52.

H In Fig. 6, also, the single spring for returning the piston shown inFig.2 is replaced byffitwo suchsprings, arranged. one

The inner-spring 97' 1s centered around theboss52 and within thefiange'i98 of the abutment part 58, while the outer spring 99is'centered byexte rnal en gagementwithlugs 101 on the piston 54." Thespring 97 'is arranged to be stressed from the very moment the valve50begins to open, v

'while the spring99 is'f'not initially affected, butonly comes intoaction somewhat later.

The spring 99, however, is of much heavier scale thanthe spring 97.

'When' air pressure is admitted t'ofopen the valve '50 of the Fig. 6device, the air first entering the cylinder 55 has only to compress thelight spring 97. The stronger .spring 99 comes into. play only after thesteam pressure under the now open valve 50 has become suflici'ent tobalance that above.

The time required for this to take place (and for the air pressure underthe piston 54 toreacha value capable of compressing the spring'99)is-suflicient toprevent slamming or hammering of the parts,especially inview of the progressive increase in the resistance of both springs asthe valve 50 opens further. When, on the other hand,

the air pressure is released, thespring 99 expands completely and exertsits full effect before the valve 50 quite reaches its seat. The closingmovement is completed by the adapted to open upon a discontinuance ofsaid supply. i

steam pressure and the light spring 97, NVlllCll, however, has notsuflicient tension and power to slam the piston. V

In .Flg. 6, various parts and features are marked with the samereference characters as in Figs. 1-5, as a means of dispensing Withmerely repetitive description.

I claim 1. The combination with a booster and its throttle ofa controlsystem comprising initiatory means for bringing the booster intooperation or putting it out of operation, means successively dependenton said first means and on conditions for booster operation forultimately permitting the booster throttle to be opened, and. means forclos ingthe booster throttle controlled by said first-mentioned meansindependently of the second-mentioned means.

a 2. The combination With a booster and a pressure-actuated throttletherefor, of a con- 'ptr ol system comprising means for initially theinitial pressure as aforesaid.

admitting or releasing pressure, means successively dependent on saidfirst means and V on conditlons for boosteroperation controlling. theultimate admission of such pressure to open the booster throttle, and anunloading valve for relieving suchopening pressure on the throttleresponsive directly to. relief of 3. The combination of a locomotivebooster, athrottle valve therefor, a fluid pressure motor for openingsaid throttle,

a source of fluid pressure, an unloading valve for exhausting the fluidpressure from said motor, said unloading valve ,being.

adapted to be pressure held in closedposition, and means for supplyingressurefrom said source to said motor an to said unloading valve, saidunloading valve being 4. The combination of arailway vehicle axle, abooster motor, means for entraining.

the booster, With said axle, a fluid motor for actuating saidentrainment means, a booster throttle, a fluid motor for actuating saidthrottle, a source of fluid pressure, a pilot valve for controlling thesupply of fluid to both of said actuating motors, an unload- 'in valveof relativelv lar 'e ca acit for quickly exhausting the fluid from saidbooster throttle motor, said unloading valve being adapted to bepressure held in closed position, and means for supplying pressurecoming ing valve being adapted 'to 'open upon a discontinuance'of saidpressure supply. f

.5. The combination of a railway vehicle axle, a booster, a fluidactuated mechanism for entraining the booster With the axle, a

from said pilot valve to hold the un-i loading valvein closed position,said unloadwhen said entraining mechanism and said.

throttle actuating mechanism are being supplied, said. unloadingvalvebe'ing adapted to open upon a discontinuancefof the pressure (3.,The combination of a locomotive, a

booster, a booster throttle, a fluid motor for actuating said throttle,a source of fluid pres sure, a locomotive throttle, means for.delivering fluid pressure to said booster'throttle motor after thelocomotivethrottle has been opened, an unloading valve for exhaustingthe fluid from said booster throttle'motor, said unloadingvalve beingadapted to be for supplying pressure from said source to hold theunloading valve in closed ,posi- ,tion, said unloading valve'beingadapted to open upon discontinuance of said supy- In testimony whereof,I have hereunto signed my name.

MONTAGUE tiioe iii'rs'.

pressure held in closed position, andmeans

